Bus stop worry at Ireland’s “most famous junction”

BUS stops and traffic at the Kildare town motorway exit, Junction 13, are causing consternation locally.

BUS stops and traffic at the Kildare town motorway exit, Junction 13, are causing consternation locally.

The issues were raised by local councillors at last week’s meeting of Kildare Area Committee.

Cllr Tony O’Donnell proposed that public representatives write to the operators of the Dublin Coach service, requesting that they find a safer location for their stop in Kildare town.

Cllr O’Donnell was referring to the recently erected “Green Bus” stop on the road outside Kildare Village. The meeting heard that there is no place for buses to pull in off the side of the road. Traffic backs up on the road behind passengers as they alight and board the vehicles.

Cllr O’Donnell noted that the local authorities have no jurisdiction on where bus stops are situated. This power rests with the local gardai, who sign off on the operator’s application to the National Transport Authority for a stop.

Cllr Suzanne Doyle agreed that the placing of the stop near the roundabout was “inappropriate”.

She claimed she had seen a bus “parking up on the side of the road while the driver had a cigarette break”. She also noted asked how vulnerable service users, including children and disabled people accessed the location.

It was also noted that people dropping friends or relatives to the bus stop are parking up beside the stop while they wait for the popular “Green Bus” service, which also causes traffic jams.

“There is no access or signalised crossings, the junction was not designed for this,” noted Cllr O’Donnell.

The representatives resolved to write to the operators of Dublin Coach, pointing out that the location is not, in their opinion, appropriate for a bus stop.

Later at the meeting, Cllr Suzanne Doyle also proposed that camera surveillance at the Junction 13 motorway roundabout be upgraded to give capacity for data collection and the storage of traffic movements at the busy junction.

“Exit 13 is the most famous junction in the country at the moment,” she said, referring to nearby Kildare Village’s radio advertisements. She complimented them on their marketing campaigns, but noted that traffic at the junction increases significantly when they have sales or events.

Cllr Fiona O’Loughlin noted that the shopping outlet complex has applied for planning permission for an extension. She suggested that the cost of extracting traffic management data from the camera surveillance tapes be billed to Kildare Village.

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